The invention relates to a laminated glass panel and particularly to a laminated glass panel suitable for use in frameless glass structures.
Frameless glass panels are often used by architects and decorators to define or enclose interior spaces. Typical uses of the panels include doors, partition walls, shower enclosures, glass furniture and glass retail displays. Panels are also known as xe2x80x9clitesxe2x80x9d in the glass industry.
Conventional frameless panels are supported by mounting hardware that grips or holds both sides of the panel and connects the panel to a supporting member. Such mounting hardware includes patch fittings that generally extend three to six inches along an edge of the panel or rail fittings that extend along an entire edge of the panel. Other auxiliary patch or rail fittings mount handles, railings, and other auxiliary hardware. The fittings do not surround the entire panel, giving the desired appearance of a substantially continuous and largely unobstructed expanse of glass.
Each fitting typically includes a pair of clamp plates or a U-channel that grip the opposite sides of the panel. A fastener may extend between the clamp plates or channel through a hole in the panel to mount the fitting and adjust the force with which the fitting grips the panel.
A conventional panel is either a single sheet of tempered glass or two sheets of tempered glass laminated together by a clear interlayer. The fittings bear directly against the tempered glass to grip the panel. Tempered glass has sufficient strength to withstand the bearing forces applied to it without cracking.
It is preferred for security purposes that the panel be laminated glass rather than a single glass sheet. Tempered glass cracks into a number of small, separate fragments. A cracked panel that is a single sheet of tempered glass cannot be held in place by the fittings. When the glass breaks, the broken fragments fall out of the fittings and an opening in the structure is created. In contrast, a cracked laminated panel remains held in place by the fittings. The interlayer remains bonded to the glass fragments and holds the fragments in place to enable the fittings to hold the cracked panel in place.
Although conventional frameless glass panels are visually appealing, decorative options are generally limited to selecting the fittings used to mount the panels and auxiliary hardware. The tempered glass itself is clear and smooth and limits the visual impact and appeal of the panels.
To increase the decorative options available for frameless glass panels, it is desirable to replace the tempered glass with art glass. Art glass, also known as decorative glass, is a type of float glass commonly used to make stained glass or textured windows.
Art glass is available in a wide variety of colors and surface textures. The molten glass may be handblown and then rolled flat to obtain an uneven surface texture. Alternatively, the glass may be rolled flat on steel plates. The rollers may be smooth or may have a textured surface to impart the texture on the glass surface. The glass may be beveled or cut to form artistic surface designs.
Art glass is not sufficiently strong to be held or gripped by conventional frameless glass fittings. Art glass is untempered and cracks from the forces applied to it by conventional patch or rail fittings.
It is known to bond art glass to one side of a single sheet of tempered glass in a frameless glass structure. The art glass overlies an unobstructed portion of the tempered glass without extending into the areas gripped by the fittings. However, if the tempered glass breaks the art glass cannot be held by the mounting hardware. Such construction cannot be used where security is a concern and is not suitable for most business and retail applications.
In other conventional glass panels a metal frame extends around the outer periphery of the art glass. The frame distributes the load about the outer edges of the art glass and prevents the art glass from cracking. The frame cannot be used where frameless glass structures are desired.
Thus, there is a need for an improved frameless glass panel that includes a sheet of untempered glass such as art glass. The improved panel should be held with conventional frameless glass mounting hardware and should remain held by the mounting hardware if the panel were to crack. In use, the unobstructed glass area of the frameless glass structure should not be reduced.
The present invention is directed to an improved laminated frameless glass panel. The improved panel includes a sheet of untempered glass such as art glass and can be held with conventional frameless glass mounting hardware. The panel remains held by the mounting hardware should the panel crack. The unobstructed glass area of the installed panel is not reduced.
A laminated panel having features of the present invention includes a sheet of art glass on one side of the panel. One or more rigid bearing members are located on the same side of the panel as the art glass. The art glass and bearing members are bonded together by a laminate interlayer. The bearing members are located in areas of the side that are to be gripped by the mounting hardware. The bearing members may be gripped by the mounting hardware without cracking when the panel is installed in the structure.
Conventional patch or rail fittings may be used to mount the panel in the frameless glass structure. The fittings face the bearing members and do not contact the art glass. The fittings bear against the bearing members and not the art glass. The fittings preferably cover the bearing members such that the unobstructed portion of the improved panel is the same as the unobstructed portion of a conventional tempered glass panel when installed.
In a preferred embodiment, the panel includes a sheet of art glass laminated to a sheet of tempered glass. The tempered glass faces both the art glass and the pressure plates and is itself otherwise conventional.
The bearing members are preferably flat metal pressure plates. Each plate has a thickness equal to the nominal thickness of the art glass. The plates are preferably spaced from the art glass by the interlayer, which fills the gaps between the plates and the art glass. The plates are sized such that the fittings cover the gaps between the plates and the art glass to give the visual impression that the art glass extends into the fittings.
The glass sheets and bearing members may be laminated together using conventional laminating methods. The interlayer may be formed from a conventional curable, flowable resin that bonds to both metal and glass surfaces.
In another embodiment pairs of bearing members overlie each other on opposite sides of the panel. This enables untempered glass to be used on both sides of the panel. In yet another embodiment some or all of the bearing members may form integral portions of the mounting hardware. For example, in possible embodiments a bearing member may be an integral portion of a patch or rail fitting.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, of which there are four sheets of six embodiments.